About 281,000 Orange County voters have been moved to the elections office's inactive list because they haven't voted in the last two federal election cycles. ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER FILE PHOTO

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Orange County has removed one of every six voters from its active voter rolls, a massive update that surpasses the number of voters removed in every other county in the state combined.

About 281,000 registered voters have been re-designated because they haven't voted in the past two biannual federal elections cycles. If they haven't moved or died, they can still vote in future elections – but they will no longer receive sample ballots with candidate information, which cost about 60 cents each to print and mail. If they are permanent mail voters, they will no longer receive mail ballots.

It's the first time Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley has made the large-scale effort to move voters to the inactive rolls and he said he believes this is the only county to do so since November.

"Without question, we are the most proactive in maintaining our database," Kelley said. His office also peruses death rolls and change-of-address lists in updating its records.

The latest effort began about two weeks ago, when the roughly 300,000 county voters who hadn't voted since before 2010 were notified by mail that they would be removed from the active rolls unless they returned an enclosed postcard requesting to remain on the active list. About 20,000 of those voters have returned the card, Kelley said.

Additionally, Kelley said tens of thousands of the mailers have been returned with a notice that the addressee no longer lived there. Like other voters Kelley doesn't hear back from, these will remain on the inactive list through two additional federal election cycles and are then eligible to be purged entirely.

Nearly 17 percent of the county's voters have been removed, leaving 1.4 million active voters. Statewide, the rolls are down by 2.9 percent, leaving 17.7 million active voters, according to a tally by BallotAccess.org.

In county registration, Republicans lead Democrats 42 percent to 32 percent, a slight increase from the GOP's 41 percent to 32 percent edge in the November election. It's a small – and likely temporary – reversal of what has been a two-decade slide for the county GOP. Republicans tend to be more persistent voters than Democrats, so it's unsurprising the latest effort has helped them a bit.

Statewide, Democrats have a 44-percent to 29-percent advantage.

Voters can check their registration information at ocvote.com. All voters listed are active unless the file says they're inactive. There is a link for inactive voters wanting to return to the active roll. Alternatively, voters can ask to remain on the active list by going to ocvote.com/confirm or by calling 714-567-7600.

Politics and the pope

A Register poll found Republicans more enthusiastic than Democrats about the selection of the new pope, but Democrats will be well represented in the congressional delegation headed to Rome for the formal installation of Pope Francis on Tuesday.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, (pictured) will be among the six Democrats in the nine-member delegation being sent by House Speaker John Boehner, according to a release from Boehner's office.

In addition to the delegation, Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are expected to attend, according to the Associated Press. Biden and Pelosi, like Sanchez, are Catholic.

An OC Political Pulse poll found that 53 percent of 161 Republican respondents thought the selection of the new pope was a good one, with 4 percent saying it was a poor selection and 39 percent having no opinion.

Among the 82 Democratic respondents, 37 percent said it was a good selection, 17 percent called it a poor selection and 33 percent had no opinion. Additionally, 13 percent said it was a so-so choice.

The poll is not scientifically vetted but tends to reflect partisan sentiment among voters.

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